Conference and protest alternative to NATO summit to take place in Warsaw

Date of publication: 02 07 2016, 01:12

Association “Stop the war!” and a number of other organizations are preparing alternative to NATO summit conference and a demonstration in the Polish capital.

This was announced during a press briefing by the action leader Philip Ilkovsky.

According to him, the conference will take place on the day of the summit – July 8, and the protest – on the next day. Organizers expect several hundred people to take part in this action. The main slogans of the demonstration are “No to NATO bases!”, “No to missile shield!”, “No to arms race!”.

“Poland is arming with all possible ways. It increases the army, has a huge defense budget, – Ilkovsky explained the reasons for organizing conferences and demonstrations. – On top of this are plans to deploy NATO bases”. “We do not want to see the war-torn world, the world of militarization and arms race”, he added.

“Since 1999 NATO, when Poland joined the Union, is formally responsible for three wars – in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Libya. Meanwhile, many NATO member states have participated in other military operations, symbol of which became Iraq, – recalled the organizer of anti-NATO actions in Warsaw. – We oppose all imperialism, which tend to militarization”.

“We understand that if more weapons would be bough, bases would be built and tensions between the two countries would grow, including in relations with Russia, our world wouldn’t be safer. The potential for conflict increases on the contrary, – noted the organizers. – Neither the Russians nor the Poles need the current arms race, because in the case of war would suffer ordinary people but not those who will make decisions at the NATO summit behind a high fence”.

“If the policy of militarization and the pace of this process will continue, the protests in Poland and in the world would continue to grow”, Ilkovsky said.